A Glimpse of June....

1/3 of the summer is almost gone! 

Darin spent almost the entire month in Jury Duty.  Lots of his weekends were spent making up for the work he was missing during the week.  An educational experience for sure, not necessarily always an enjoyable experience.  He especially didn't like sending down the judgments, or being privy to the dark side of humanity...but he met some really nice people and got to experience something new.

Meanwhile the kids and I did this:

Cherry Hill with friends.

Scofield with cousins.

We've been to the Rec Center for swimming a few times...this occasion was to celebrate a birthday with friends (Cherry Hill friends).

Miriam is enjoying her cake decorating class, and Saturday tennis lessons with friends.  

Byron and I have been playing a bit of tennis during her lessons.

2 weeks of teaching Bricks for Kidz camps

Mining and Crafting with Byron and his friend Fielding, and Space Camp with Miriam and Byron.

I spent lots of evenings putting together Lego sets to be able to help the kids the next day.  I am happy to report I am indeed getting better at following directions. Still struggle with the trouble shooting department.  Luckily I usually teach with smart tech savvy teenagers.

I did some edging in the back yard. This particular bed is the future strawberry patch.

(this was much harder than it looks!!)

 Lots of weeding, cleaning up flower beds, planting flowers, and getting delicious fruit deliveries from kind neighbors.

Here comes the celebratory month of July!

Father's Day

It's strange that here I am...a 37 year old woman with a husband and 3 kids and I find myself still needing my dad.  I always knew I was lucky, it's easy to find examples of bad dads out there, but his influence has been kind of a life raft lately.

My male heroes have been face planting since history 101.  As soon as you memorize the historical greatness of a man, a few years later you learn about his faults and poor choices.  I don't expect people to be perfect.  I can allow for faults and mistakes but it seems with men (some women) power and leadership leads to moral breakdowns and in so many cases these great men end up treating women like objects for comfort and desire. As a woman, a wife, and a mother, this is perhaps more offensive than other mistakes, and less tolerable to me than others. 

Lately, a few of my greatest and longest standing heroes have done huge face plants.  I held these heroes to a higher standard and my heart is broken.  Even giving them the benefit of the doubt and trying to put everything in historical context leaves me feeling raw and wounded. It's personal to me. When you add to that wound global news about honor killings, kidnapping and rape of girls and women, how objectified I feel every day of my life....well sometimes a woman wonders if the male gender, if left unchecked, is just incapable of making good choices toward females.

But then hope floats on up to the top of my heart....
and I think of Darin, my sweet sons, my brothers, my Father-in-law, my Uncles, nephews, my Grandpas, friends husbands, men I work with at church, and of course, my dad.

And since it's Father's Day this post is about my dad.

When I was an overweight tween developing a great self loathing for my body, my dad (and my mom) only said positive beautiful things about me.  When the media told me that the most important thing about me was to be physically desirable to men, and even my beautiful religion told me that to be desired enough to be picked by a man was my highest and noblest calling, my dad countered by putting skis on my feet, a racket in my hand, and all kinds of sports utilities under my direction.  He taught me to find joy in what my body could do rather than what it looked like.

When I got conflicting messages from witnessing what boys and men liked (hello Cindy Crawford) and then being told I was suppose to simultaneously attract them but be pristinely pure and modest.......trying to find the delicate balance of keeping guy interested while being the moral gatekeeper of the relationship, my dad treated all women equally with great respect.  He didn't have the all too common car/bikini girl calendars at the auto shop he owned (and I delivered auto parts for him so I can attest that was unusual).  He didn't flirt with attractive women, while ignoring others, and in fact, he paid special attention to the widows in our ward.  He never attached my worth with my attractiveness.  While I was desperate to be thin and beautiful for the world I knew I just needed to be kind, brave, and hardworking to please my dad.

When marriages were collapsing all around me, and I wondered if a man could find happiness with a wife and family, my dad was faithful.  He provided for us, he gave everything he could to make our lives safe, and give us wonderful life experiences.  He made me feel like it was a privilege to spend time with me.  Like playing catch on the lawn or wave running with his kids was the best time he ever had in his life! Even when we were grumpy, when we fought, when we were little turds, I still felt like he wanted us there.

My dad has faults.  But they are faults that don't wound my soul.  My dad has made plenty of mistakes, but they are not mistakes that make me feel like my sex is "less-than".

Because of my dad when it came time to be "picked" I knew what kind of man I was looking for.
And now my daughter has that kind of man in her life too.

Father's Day hike 2014

 

Ray Kids Camp

Darin surprised the kids with a random end of the year gift.

sleeping pads!

The kids were excited and grateful.

Then he brought out the sleeping bags,

and they acted like they had won trip to Disneyland!

Squeals of delight!

So we have had "Ray Kids Camp" on the deck for the last 3 nights

Night 1 super static night.

Night Two - Soren is just posing for this picture, after night 1 he decided he prefers to be down the hall from Darin and I.  They other two have plans to sleep there ALL WEEK.

It's funny how excited camping gear made those crazies.

Funny how much they LOVE sleeping outside (Well, not Soren but the other two).

Funny how the things I didn't care about when we bought this house I am really loving; electric fireplace, bright yellow bathroom countertop, and the top deck.

In fact, the deck was a huge negative in my book since it's maintenance and future replacement....and this house has 2 of them!

A few breakfasts out on the top deck, evenings watching the sunset, and now the kids safe up there, off the ground with no access except through the house and all the sudden I love that stinkin' place. Talk to me again when we need to re-paint or I get a quote for Trex material, my softened heart may harden. We have to keep it....or put a huge slide out the back sliding doors.

Can't believe it's day 3 of summer.  Things are good...they are verrry good.  Chores getting done, we've gone swimming, to library presentations, parks, and read books.  Temps in the low 80's. Next week though...thats when our schedule starts to pick up, and when the friend requests might increase, maybe then I will be singing a different tune...but for now I am super content. 

I feel a little bad about that because while I am home being content Darin is going every day {for the next 19 days!!!} to jury duty, and then coming home to get things done from his real job.  He says it's been interesting but the novelty is beginning to wear off and he has 2 1/2 weeks left if all goes well {pleeeeeeze let it go well!}. AND to top it all off his wife was super mad that he was selected in the first place and not at all sympathetic!  All that anger with no one to give it to, so mostly it went to Darin, and my mom, and to my friend Stacie...I have since accepted it and found peace in watching the children work, and in going to the public library, to parks, and swimming pools.

Miriam Performs Her Little Heart Out

We lucked out again this year because Miriam's ballet and piano recitals landed on the same weekend.  Last year it was the same day! This scheduling totally works for me.

Some cute ballet friends.

Both Grandparents came, and Aunt Julia drove her littles all the way up and back in one day to be here. We tried to get them to stay over by having ice cream sundaes at like 9 pm but Julia was a die-hard {mainly because she was headed to another nieces dance recital the next day 4 hours in the opposite direction, she is hard core}

Cute cousins clapping for Miriam and "cherry on top" ice cream, which is Soren's favorite.

We took Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen out for lunch the next day to celebrate my mom's birthday and my dad quitting his job....not retiring because he still owns a business but now he will only work 1 job.  Both worthy of a huge celebration, but we just had pizza and gelato. Then to the piano recital.  

Miriam received her medal again this year!  It's getting harder to memorize 8 numbers as they get longer, and her school work increases but she has kept up so far.

  

Gelato-faced babe lulled to sleep by 2 min. sonatas. 

Not even the broken sprinkler causing a geyser in the back yard could ruin the day.

Whoosh! there it went...

First Day of School August 2013

9 Months later here they are.
Everyone is shaggier and Miriam got herself a new walking buddy.

It's been a great year....both of their teachers deserve more than lemonade but thats what they got, along with adoration from the kids and gratitude from Darin and I.  Ms. Hansen was tough, she expected a lot, but was so accepting and encouraging.  If Miriam had an idea or suggestion Ms. Hansen was on board.  She is a "yes" woman!  And Mrs. Halverson was so clam, organized, consistent, and kind she made school a safe place for him to relax, make friends, and learn. He totally flourished with her.

So there goes another school year!

Soren will be flying solo all day next year.